By Sani Gazas Chinade
Save the Children International (SCI) has offered cash assistance to 10,000 pregnant and nursing women in Yobe, in conjunction with the European Union (EU).
Mr Lawal Tsafe, Yobe’s Social Protection Co-ordinator for EU Resilience, revealed this in Damaturu while inspecting a payment center.
Since 2019, each pregnant and nursing woman has received N7,500 in monetary assistance, he said.
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“ The EU is sponsoring the cash transfer, which is overseen and implemented by SCI.
“We are targeting 10,000 pregnant and lactating women with N7,500 monthly cash transfers to support their first 1,000 days.
“That is from pregnancy to the first two years of a child, following it up with social and behavioral change communication.”, Tsafe said.
Damaturu and Postiskum were the two local government areas chosen for the initiative, according to the Coordinator.
He stated that 4000 individuals were targeted in Damaturu, while 6,000 recipients were targeted in Potiskum.
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The coordinator explained that the criteria for the selection of the beneficiaries were conducted through a community-based approach.
“We formed a traditional ward committee that is vested with the responsibility of identifying and selecting the beneficiaries.
“The basic requirements for the beneficiary is to be pregnant and a resident of the particular community irrespective of religious social or ethnic background.”, he said.
He, therefore, appealed to the beneficiaries to utilize the money judiciously by taking care of their babies from conception to the period of two years.
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The coordinator equally charged them to save part of the money and engage in small-scale businesses to take care of themselves after the expiration of the program.
One of the beneficiaries, Gambo Goni, said the money had supported her, especially during her pregnancy when she needed lots of proteins as required by a physician.
“Without the support, I might not be able to take care of myself and my baby. I really appreciate SCI.”, she said.
Hadiza Dantsuwa, another beneficiary said she had been collecting N7,500 and hoped to continue to benefit to enable her baby to become fully developed.
Aisha Muhammed called on the fellow beneficiaries to avoid mismanagement of the money. “We need to stick to supplementing our diets, to improve our health and that of our babies,” she said.